More Arrests in College Admissions Scandal Likely: Officials

Federal prosecutors say more arrests could come soon in the investigation of a large college admissions bribery and cheating ring, with a number of defendants already charged in a sealed complaint, reports USA Today.

Hints about additional cases are sprinkled in court filings since the U.S. Attorney in Boston announced the first 50 people charged in the scheme last month.

Federal prosecutors have been sending so-called target letters to people associated with the college admissions scandal, a law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation told CNN.

Recipients include people include students, graduates and other adults, and they are not all related to the same charge, the official added. The official wouldn’t confirm whether the students or graduates are related to the parents already charged in the case or if they are new potential defendants, CNN added.

The initial defendants include include consultant Rick Singer, college coaches, athletics administrators, test proctors and the wealthy parents of college-bound students.

Singer, a private college consultant based in Newport Beach, Ca., pleaded guilty to a decade-long scheme to help parents buy their way into prestigious colleges, either by bribing coaches to recruit them as athletes or paying test proctors to cheat on college admissions tests.

Affidavits suggest that the scope of college cheating went far beyond the 33 parents already charged. Singer said he’s used some version of the scam to get almost 800 students into prestigious colleges and universities.

“So I did 761 what I would call, ‘side doors,’ he told one parent.

Prosecutors say Singer earned more than $25 million from the scheme. The amounts accounted for in court filings total less than $6 million of that income. The earliest criminal activity alleged in court filings dates back to 2008, but most of the cases charged are from admissions in just the last two years. The statute of limitations for most fraud and bribery offenses is five years.

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